Washington D.C., Nov 23, 2019 / 06:50 am
Ashley Stricklin says she had a typical Texan upbringing. She was raised a Southern Baptist in a town outside of Dallas, with a family who was active in her church. Her father was a deacon in their Baptist church, and she accepted Jesus into her heart when she was nine.
Although Stricklin lived near a Catholic church, she had never been inside it, nor did she really know any Catholics--that is, until she went off to Baylor University, one of the largest Baptist-affiliated universities in the world. There, she met faithful Catholics, and embarked on a long, and at times even secretive, journey into the Catholic Church.
The Catholics Stricklin met at Baylor were "always so joyful," which prompted her to begin to wonder what exactly was so different between the Catholic faith and the faith she was raised in. Despite her faithful Baptist upbringing, Stricklin said that she always felt as though "something was missing," in her life, but could not quite put her finger on it.
Her new Catholic friends invited her to Eucharistic adoration, which was the first time Stricklin had ever seen the Blessed Sacrament--and she began to see exactly what she had been missing.